My Life: The Iron Lady of Israel, Golda Meir - XII

Sarah and Menachem Golda's children

Both of them belonged to the Labour movement's Pioneer Youth organisation. Sarah joined kibbutz Revivim and Menachem was interested in music. They carved their way.

The plight of the survivors of the pogrom

After the Second World War ended, all expected that the Jews alive in Europe would be allowed to enter Palestine. The Labourites always condemned the restrictions on Jews, but the favourite government announced that there was no need to honour the promise it made about Palestine. They wanted the Jews to work sincerely to settle in Europe again.


Thus Jews in Palestine were left with no alternative but to transport some 70000 Jews to Palestine. The British government even turned down the suggestion of President Truman ( the president of America ) too.

When Golda had to appear for Histadrut on 25/3/1946, she clearly stated that referring to the great Hebrew poet,( Chaim Nachman Bialik ) they wanted to put an end to ' the senseless living and senseless dying '. ' Jews's right to exist was constantly questioned. ' Jews had decided to do away with helplessness, they wanted to be the masters of their fate like any people in the world. They wanted to bring the surviving Jewish children and allow them to grow free of fear with heads held high. British had given a quota for every month for immigration.

This resulted in a hunger strike for 101 hours, as the administration would not let immigration happen, the British administration took action against it. Golda was not arrested, basically, she never supported any kind of terror against Arabs or British for simply what they were. Weizmann ( instrumental in obtaining the Balfour Declaration and later convincing the United States government to recognize the newly formed State of Israel ) too played an influential role in it.

British were deporting illegal immigrants from Palestine to Cyprus, but more were pouring in. The younger generation helped all the survivors immigrants carry ashore on their backs. Children constantly were with the entire society in this struggle. The blows strengthened the demand and Jewish determination of political independence. It was a difficult situation for Golda, and even more difficult was the situation that Jewish immigration did not stop, they were not ready to accept the judgement of the British administration about how and where to live. The inmates of the Nazi camps were freed but we're not allowed to live in Palestine. 40000 assembled in Cyprus but only only 1500 were allowed to enter Palestine each month. After a lot of persuasion, orphaned children were allowed out of turn to leave Cyprus as soon as possible, and of course, there was a problem of children who had just one parent which too was to be attended.

In February 1947 United Nations was entrusted with the responsibility to find some solution to the Palestine problem. British administration caged and returned 4500 refugees to Germany, which had Jews of all ages, even pregnant women. This probably helped the committee make the decision. ( Exodus was the name of the ship )
Neither Arabs nor Jews wanted the land to be divided, and any solution of partition was not accepted. Even the United Nations could not find a solution though as big as 33 nations favoured partition. Arab riots broke out everywhere. Golda pointed out that the British police did not behave appropriately. It was war. Golda could understand that they wanted weapons and huge money to buy them, only Jews from America were in a position to help in the crisis. She offered to go, left Palestine even without luggage, and from the meeting, she went straight to travel.

She met the fundraisers, she expressed the resolve to fight to the end. She wanted to save the rest of the Jews who came alive in Palestine. Every Jew believed that they would be victorious, the unconquered spirit needed arms, and they had no time at their disposal. ' The money ' she said,' was required immediately and as huge the amount twenty-five to thirty million dollars '. Many other countries were capable of raising money for Arabs. It was not easy, blood plus money was required. There was no choice, American Jews had to make a decision quickly, within hours. They wept and wept and pledged in the amounts no one had ever thought of, took loans to cover their pledges, and fifty million dollars were raised. It helped in the purchase of arms. ' the Jewish woman who got the money which made the state possible ', said Ben Gurion.

There were many groups and countries to be met before the Jewish state was proclaimed. The Jews never wanted to be a protected minority in the Arab Kingdom, they wanted their state. On 14'th May 1948 Jewish state was to come into existence with trust in ' the rock of Israel '. ( The concept that encompasses God,Zionism,politics and the cultural and historical heritage of Jewish people ) ( though it was not easy for all to accept the expression) It was the end of Jewish homelessness of 2000 years. Her son was in the US and her daughter was in the kibbutz. The ceremony was to be held in Tel Aviv Museum, one of the oldest buildings. 200 people were invited through a large crowd waiting outside the museum. Something went wrong and music did not play, spontaneously all rose to sing the national anthem.

All eyes moist and hands shook, ultimately Golda thought that she could live to see the day.